If you’ve heard you should travel while you’re young, it’s because the time to see the world is in your 20s. They’re a time where you can take advantage of your youth, soak up new experiences and take off on spontaneous adventures. Your 20s are one of the only times you’ll be old enough to make independent decisions and young enough to pick up and go whenever.

Extended travel can cost a pretty penny, but it’s well worth every cent. Sure, you might incur a little debt in the process but that can’t compare to those pangs of regret from not exploring the world.

Borders can’t be crossed and explored if you’re staying at home. Getting to know interesting people and indulging in different cultures will alter your attitudes and perspectives. So step out of your comfort zone, test your limits and you might just learn a lesson that’ll shape the rest of your life.

If you’re still not convinced, here are 20 reasons why you should travel in your 20s:

1

Nothing Major Is Holding You Back

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No mortgage, no kids, no huge assets. This won’t last for long.

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2. You Can Do It For Cheap

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Staying in hostels won’t be fun once you get older and actually need sleep.

3

You Can Get The Craziness Out Of Your System

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It’s either now or later when you're living with 20+ cats.

4

If You Don’t Travel, Your Friends Will And Their Pictures Will Make You Jealous

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Very. Jealous.

5

You Will Never Look Better In A Bathing Suit

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A fit physique won’t come easy once you start ageing.

6

You Can Give Back

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Volunteering takes time that you might not have later.

7

You Have The Rest Of Your Life To Work And Stress

No need to rush. Jobs will come one way or the other.

8

You Will Make Friends From All Over The World

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This expands your social networks and gives you places to stay during future travels.

9

You Have Enough Energy To Party Until The Sun Comes Up

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If you don’t now, you never will.

10

You Can Have A Foreign Fling

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Just like in the movies.

11

International Experience Looks Good On Your Resume

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Companies want to hire people who have worked or studied abroad.

12

You Can Stop Living Through Other People’s Experiences And Have Your Own

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Computer screens reflect little of what the world has to offer.

13

Your Metabolism Won’t Get Any Faster

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So take advantage of it and eat all the foreign food you want!

14

You'll Receive An Education That You Never Did In School

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There’s nothing like putting faces to the places you read about.

15

You Will Experience Freedom At Its Finest

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If there’s any time to embrace your free spirit, it’s in your 20s.

16

You Will Have Deeper Conversations

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Celebrity gossip and sports games won’t be the only things you talk about.

17

If You Don’t Travel, You Could Have A Quarter-Life Crisis

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The fear of missing out sucks.

18

You Can Disconnect From Social Media

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Putting your phone down and talking to people, face to face, would do you good.

19

You Will Learn A Lot About Yourself

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Getting away from your regular routine helps you figure out what you want.

20

You Will Only Be Young Once

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Travel while you can.

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13 Abandoned Places You'll Want To See In 2014

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Little is known about these abandoned flats in Keelung, Taiwan. Even less is written about them in English. According to The Liberty Times, a local newspaper in Taiwan, these flats were built in the '90s in anticipation of a housing boom. But the boom never came, the project ran out of money and now the buildings sit forgotten.

The town of Czestochowa, Poland isn't well-known to many train-enthusiasts. It's actually better known for religious pilgrimages thanks to the Jasna Gora Monastery and the icon of the Black Madonna. Still that hasn't stopped travellers from stumbling across the town's forgotten tracks.

It looks like a perfect setting for a horror movie, but the Château Miranda actually used to be home to families and later, dozens of orphans in Belgium prior to 1991. Since then it's been shut down, forgotten by the family who owns it.

Hard to believe this use to be a playground for kids, huh? The park was started by a Belgian pastor during the '50s and later evolved into a theme park. It was later plagued by a series of accidents involving visitors, eventually closed for renovations and never managed to open back up again, according to Abandoned Playgrounds.

Also known as "Gunkanjima" or "Battleship Island, this forgotten island sits off the coast of Japan in the Nagasaki Prefecture. It used to be home to a coal mining operation and at one point housed 5,259 people within the 6,100 square meters of liveable space. By 1974, the demand for coal had dropped to the point where the island was closed and the inhabitants asked to leave. In June, Google brought its street view technology to digitally map the area. You can check it out here

As the Soviet Union fell into disarray, so did the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party. On the outside, the building looks like a futuristic stone saucer perched above ground. Inside, the building's structure crumbles against years of exposure to the elements. According to the Daily Mail, Bulgaria's government doesn't have the 20 million dollars needed for repairs. Until it does, the building will remain abandoned.

The Kasteel van Mesen underwent quite a few changes before being abandoned in the '70s. Prior to 1914, the building housed a wealthy family before it later served as a boarding school just for girls in Belgium, according to Forbidden Planet. A ban on French education in the area shut down the school where it lays forgotten.

Located in the cold wastelands of Siberia, Russia, this diamond mine once produced 20 per cent of the world's diamonds and could churn out 10 million carats of diamond per year. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the mine changed ownership until it finally shut down in 2004, according to Amusing Planet.

No one's sure why the Ryugyong Hotel earned the nickname the "Hotel of Doom" but it might be because of its menacing appearance (it could pass an an evil villain's fortress) or because the hotel's goals were so grand, the project was doomed to fail. Construction began in 1987 and nearly three decades later, the hotel still hasn't opened. Work has been on a start-stop schedule thanks to global tensions with North Korea and it doesn't look like the hotel will open any time soon.

Prior to shutting down in 2001, Spree Park's claim to fame was its giant, 45-metre wide Ferris wheel. The first signs of trouble showed up in 1989 when the park saw a decline in visitors, according to Abandoned Berlin. Escalating prices and lack of parking sealed the deal and the park shut down to the public.

Rubble is all that remains of Villa Epecuén, a tourist town in Buenos Aires Province. The project did enjoy some success until a seiche (a standing wave) in the the salt-water lake of Lago Epecuén broke the dam and the dike protecting the town. Eventually the waters, reaching as high as 10 metres, destroyed the town and it was never rebuilt.

On the outside, this abandoned school in Ronse, Belgium looks like no's one paid a visit for decades. However, venture inside and you'll find the walls decorated in Batman-inspired grafitti, thanks to street artist Pete One.

One of the more famous ghost towns in Saskatchewan is Uranium City. It was close to achieving city status and then collapsed upon the closure of the Eldorado Mine and the mass exodus of its population. Today, roughly 70 people inhabit the town in order to keep it alive.
Photo Credit: cityofstrangers

White Otter Castle near Atikokan, Ont. is a three-storey castle by Jimmy McOuat. An eccentric hermit, he built the castle between 1903 and 1915 as a dowry for a woman he wanted to marry. In 1918, McOuat drowned while fishing and is buried next to the castle. The property remains abandoned.

Bayer’s Lake Mystery Walls in Halifax, Nova Scotia is a mystery that has stumped Nova Scotians for decades. Located near the province's capital, these fortified stonewalls are unknown in origin, abandoned by someone hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years ago. The most logical explanation that’s often used is that it could have been a military installation.
Photo Credit: darbycrashin

Fort San, or the Fort Qu Appelle Sanitaruim, is a former sanitorium opened in 1917 to house tuberculosis patients. A self-sustaining village, it had its own power house, gardens, livestock and more. In the 1960’s, the building was used as the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts then the HMCS Qu'Appelle Cadet Summer Training Centre. In the 90’s,it was re-purposed as the Echo Valley Conference Centre, which was closed down in 2004.
See more photos here

Just north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories was a large gold mine discovered in 1935 by Johnny Baker. It wasn’t until 1944 that the mine’s massive gold deposits were discovered. From 1948 to 2004, the mine produced over 220,000 kgs of gold. In 2005, Miramar Giant Mine Ltd., the group responsible for maintaining the mine, ditched their duties and the Giant Mine officially became abandoned.
Miramar Giant Mine Ltd
Photo Credit: Marke Clinger

Val-Jalbert in Quebec, just 8km northwest of the town of Chambord, Que., was first built in 1901. Its location at the base of Ouiatchouan Falls allowed it to be a successful pulp mill for many years until it was suddenly closed in 1927 and the entire town was abandoned. All the remains are sixty well-preserved buildings.

What was once a fishing village by Smith Sound, Trinity Bay in Newfoundland from the 1880's to the 1960's is now a ghost town. At its peak, the village's population was at 157. However by the mid 60's, the population fell to 16, all who later fled to nearby counties. There are rumours that the village proved to be a hiding ground for the drug caches of local gangsters during the 80's.
For more photos, click here

The Canada Malting complex in Montreal, Quebec was built in the early 1900’s and thrived for many years, outputting 250,000 lbs of malt per year. In 1980s, the factory became too small and the site was abandoned. Due to vandalism and weather, the factory now sits in a major state of disrepair, though its silo remain part of the Lachine Canal National Historic Site.
Watch the full video here

Construction of the Aspotagan Sea Spa began in 1993 but just a year later, the project ran out of money. Even though it’s been 20 years, no new business opportunities has come up and the space continues to sit half-built, abandoned and unused on the South Shore of Nova Scotia between St.Margaret’s Bay and Mahone Bay.

The Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C. was first built as an asylum in 1913. Today its West Lawn site is completely abandoned making it so ideally creep that even "the X-Files" filmed an episode here.
Photo Credit: Shoes on Wires

Alma College in St. Thomas, Ont. was a private school for girls built in 1878. In 1988, the school closed but grounds were still used until 1994 to teach primary school and music. From 1996 and onwards, the college traded hands several times, was gutted, fell into disrepair, was featured in the horror movie, "Silent Hill" until it was consumed by very mysterious fire in 2008. Today all that remains is the front gate and the chapel.
Flickr: go ask alice . . .

Originally named Montreal International Airport when it opened in 1975, Mirabel Airport was the largest airport in the world -- just in time for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. It was meant to replace current-day Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport however, due to its location, the airport’s use declined and its last commercial flight was in October 2004. Today, the airport is used as a cargo airport and is a race car track.
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Canol Heritage Trail in the Northwest Territories is a route that follows along an abandoned World War II pipeline. Stretching 358 km in the Mackenzie Mountains, the trail one of the most challenging hikes in North America. On the route, there are relics from wartime construction which make for one-of-a-kind photo ops.

Halifax County Rehabilitation Centre operated as a municipal and provincial facility from 1941 to 2002. Located in Cole Harbour, it was abandoned for many years, used as a film set for the show "Trailer Park Boys"and eventually scheduled for demolition. In 2010, the centre caught fire, leaving it even more of a shell of its former building. At the end of 2011, the centre was again set for demolition but was set back again due to contaminants.
Photo Credit: Matturalistic!

Kitsault, B.C. has sat empty for nearly 30 years. Built in the 1970’s with the promise of being a thriving mining hub for minerals, it sat closer to the Alaskan border than any town. The town itself included 94 homes, 200 apartments, a hospital, mall, community centre and even a curling rink. Pictured here is the inside of one of the town's grocery stores.
When stock prices for molybdenum (a metal used in the construction of steel) fell, the entire community evacuated, making it a ghost town. But this ghost town might have a second chance: in 2004 an entrepreneur bought the town for $5 million in cash. CBC reports that the town could be re-purposed as a hub for British Columbia's growing liquid natural gas infrastructure.
Click here to see more video and photos

(PICTURED:Undisclosed prison) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED: Cafeteria at undisclosed prison) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Packard Motor car company) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Cell blocks at undisclosed prison) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Undisclosed retirement home) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Undisclosed theatre) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Abandoned hotel) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Trolley graveyard) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Undisclosed church) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

(PICTURED:Cell blocks, Old Essex county jail, Newark, New Jersey) - These are the hauntingly eerie photos that capture a snapshot of history by documenting abandoned America and the decline of a superpower. Taken by Matthew Christopher, who lives in Philadelphia, the collection of photos show a variety of empty buildings in various states of decay. Some buildings appear untouched, with all of its furnishings absolute pristine, while others depict how nature has reclaimed the buildings and turned them into ruins.

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Once a rich mining town, the only inhabitant of this ghost town is the sand.
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The now abandoned island is located between Manhattan and LaGuardia Airport.
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The 'Tunnel of Love' can be found in the town of Kleven, located roughly 350km from Ukraine's capital city of Kiev.

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Some might say this hotel is hauntingly beautiful...
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This small village was devastated when a volcano erupted and burred everything in a coat of lava and ash.

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Despite it's eerie appearance, Eilean Donan is popular with tourists, some of who have even hosted their wedding on the Scottish island.
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The steeple of the church juts out in Lake Resia, the body of water that was artificially made after the town was abandoned.
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